A Long Good-Bye

Dayna & Sara left for Utah this weekend. It was sad to see them go. I first met Dayna the fall of 1999 at a barn dance somewhere in rural Maryland. We got to know each other when he dated one of my good friends. We became reacquainted when he and Sara moved into our congregation a few years ago.

Saturday morning started with helping Sara & Dayna load a Penske truck. Fate smiled on us. Their apartment complex had an elevator and Dayna had furniture dollies, so no backs were broken in the course of the move. The father of one of their neighbors, who was also moving that day, asked where all the extra help came from. I replied, "We're Mormons. This is what we do." referring to helping load and unload rental trucks. I guess it's a modern form of barn raising.

Around noon I noticed that a pregnant Sara was in desperate need of sustenance, so a quick run to Chipotle to pick up lunch and a stop at the local liquor store to get more empty boxes - tip for people who need boxes: go to one of the State-run ABC Stores; they always have empty boxes - and I was off to take care of the other things on my list for that day.

A few hours later I received a call from Sara. A couple of things had come up and they weren't able to get on the road today. Could they crash at our place? Of course, was the reply. We readied the guest room, threw the clean clothes that usually reside on the guest bed onto our bed, and made space for two very tired people. We stayed up a little later than we should have talking and getting one last late-night gabfest in. It was good to be able to spend one last evening with them before they moved. You two will definitely be missed.